The first devastating tragedy in Hungarian history: The Mongol invasion
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The Kingdom of Hungary has seen some prosperous years in the 12th and 13th centuries, until the Mongol Empire set out to occupy first Eastern and Central Europe, and move further west from there, laying waste to Hungary. This is a tragic marking point in Hungarian history (in European too), one that is considered to be the first devastating challenge that this nation was faced with.
The Mongol invasion throughout the 13th century affected not just the Kingdom of Hungary, but almost all of Central and Eastern Europe, as the Golden Horde laid waste to Poland, the Czech lands, the Kingdom of Croatia, Bulgaria, and even Austria. Although there were three Mongol invasions of Europe, it was only the first that left the Kingdom of Hungary in ruins. The second was repelled by the Hungarians, but still affected gravely other countries, such as Poland or Serbia, while the Mongols did not dare to attack Hungary for the third time.
The Mongols started their invasive attacks and raids in the 1230’s, already having sent word to King Béla IV in 1237 through a Hungarian friar, named Julianus, demanding Béla’s surrender of the crown and the kingdom. However, Béla gave no answer to this, nor to other messages that arrived in the following years.
When the Horde finally arrived near the Hungarian border, it took them little to no time to start looting bigger cities.
Béla, despite the nudges of the nobility to engage the Mongols in open battle, tried to postpone a face-to-face attack out on the field against the Golden Horde.
However, battle could not be avoided, and he only gathered the Hungarian army when the Horde was seemingly retreating and moving on. The nobility ridiculed Béla for his cowardly cautiousness, belittling the Golden Horde’s force and intentions.
The Hungarians and Mongols clashed in battle on
Battle on the bridge over river SajóApril 10, 1241, at Mohi. The Hungarians managed to cash in a small victory on the bridge over the Sajó river, but the royal army was eventually turned into dust, as the Mongols had better military equipment and experience. It must be noted that the Hungarians were not those frightening nomadic military fighters as they were in the 10th century and the army consisted mostly of nobility, of knights. Adding to this, the Mongols were employing some of the ancient Hungarian fighting tactics that Europe was not accustomed to anymore.
[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/hungarys-greatest-legend-king-saint-ladislaus/” type=”big” color=”silver” newwindow=”yes”] There is a mythical story that king St. Ladislaus arose from the dead and helped the Hungarian soldiers fight the Mongols[/button]
The strategy of the Hungarian Army at Sajo was a terrible. They surrounded themselves with waterways which stopped any form of retreat or the ability to outflank the enemy. Poor planning and they wasted their superiority in numbers.